It’s Never Too Early to Start Taking Care of Your Skin

Recently, my eleven year old daughter was invited to a Willa product party. I’d never heard of such a thing but since cupcakes were involved, Claire was all over it. It turns that Willa is an ingenious new skincare company created to fill the void between ‘no-more-tears’ type products for young kids and those that are meant for adult women.

Founder Christy Prunier tells me “Willa began 4 years ago when my then 8-year-old daughter Willa was taking a bath and she asked why she had to use her little sister Julia’s “babyish” skincare products. She wanted something just for her. I was thrilled Willa wanted to start taking care of her skin. So we looked in drug stores and department stores, but we couldn’t find anything except for pink “bubblegum” products that were hardly safe or effective.”

Christy adds, “up to 80% of lasting damage happens by age 18. This statistic was alarming—but it also made sense. After all we don’t wait for our children to get a cavity to tell them to brush their teeth. So why would we wait for there to be a problem—namely a breakout or sunburn—to get them to start taking care of their skin? It’s all about prevention and starting young.”

Willa products are made with ingredients like green tea extract, lavender water, aloe, jojoba and grape seed oil. They are packaged beautifully and have a clean, natural smell. Laila Phillips, a Willa Girl and “host” of the party demonstrated how to use each product and the girls in attendance loved trying out the moisturizers, lip glosses and even the sunblock. Everyone gained a clearer understanding of why it’s important to take good care of your skin, even at age eleven. I particularly loved the “Face the Day” sunscreen. Getting my daughter in the habit of putting sunscreen on everyday is a struggle – but Claire actually looks forward to applying this tinted cream. The pigment in “Face the Day” takes away that white zinc look, and all the girls loved the even glow it gave their faces. Also, Willa does not use any paragons, phthalates (hormone distributors) or PABA in their products.

Interested in purchasing some Willa goodies for the ‘tween in your life? Check out the website Willa.com or contact Laila Phillips at directly at lailablue122@yahoo.com. Especially for Tips from Town readers, get a free full size “Born to Glow” spf 15 shimmer body lotion with any order of $50 or more for the month of April. Might be a great idea for those hard-to-fill Easter baskets.